Flynn will be on GOP primary ballot, even as party chair disputes eligibility

Former Harris County Department of Education board president Josh Flynn, shown here during a February 2019 meeting, sued to get on the Harris County Republican Party primary ballot for a state House seat. Following mediation, the party and Flynn announced he would be on the ballot, even thought county party Chairman Paul Simpson believes he remains ineligible.

Photo: Melissa Phillip, Houston Chronicle / Staff photographer

A candidate for the Texas legislature who was declared ineligible to run by the Harris County Republican Party will appear on the upcoming primary ballot even as party leadership maintains he should not be allowed to mount a campaign.

Josh Flynn, a Republican candidate for House District 138, last month sued the Harris County Republican Party and Chairman Paul Simpson after they said Flynn could not run because he had improperly resigned his seat as a trustee for the Harris County Department of Education.

In 1995, the Texas Supreme Court ruled that candidates are forbidden from running for public office while also serving in a “lucrative” office. However, the so-called “resign to run” law does not specify what does or does qualify as a “lucrative” office.

As a trustee, Flynn made $6 a meeting. He stepped down from that position in December, though Simpson said he did not submit his resignation to the correct person and, thus, could not run on the local GOP ticket.

In mediation last Friday, the two sides agreed that Flynn would appear on the upcoming primary ballot.

Simpson said in a statement that he challenged Flynn’s eligibility to “protect the integrity of the ballot,” and continued to dispute that Flynn should be allowed to run.

“As Texas law also requires, we agreed that Mr. Flynn's name will remain on the primary ballot, even though he is ineligible to run,” Simpson said.

An attorney for Simpson and the party echoed that.

"We've left (Flynn) on the ballot because the law requires us to do so, but unless a judge rules otherwise, he's still ineligible,” said Trey Trainor, an Austin-based attorney.

Regardless of the outcome of the primary, lingering ambiguity about Flynn’s eligibility could be bad for the Republican Party, Rice University political science Professor Mark Jones said.

If Flynn wins the primary, Jones said, his Democratic opponent in the general election could seek to have him declared ineligible. And they would be able to use the Republican Party’s own words to bolster that claim.

The Texas Supreme Court then would need to rule on whether Flynn was allowed to run, and clarify what is or is not a “lucrative office.”

If such a decision goes against Flynn, local precinct chairs would appoint a replacement candidate, which Jones said could be seen as a subversion of the voters’ will.

Even if a court sides with Flynn, Jones said, the legal dispute could cost valuable time, money and resources in the race for House District 138, which GOP Rep. Dwayne Bohac won by only 47 votes in 2018. Bohac announced late last year that he would not seek reelection

Jared Woodfill, Simpson’s predecessor as chairman who is representing Flynn, attributed the dispute to “a personal, political vendetta,” and accused Simpson of wasting party money and resources on personal grievances rather than spending it to defeat Democratic opponents.

Flynn previously had supported Woodfill, who lost the party chairmanship to Simpson in 2014.

Woodfill noted that local Republicans have suffered significant losses the last two election cycles, and said Simpson effectively was giving Democrats “a win prior to votes being cast” by declaring GOP candidates ineligible.

Flynn will face conservative activists Lacey Hull and Claver Kamau-Imani in the GOP primary for the seat. The winner will face Akilah Bacy, Josh Wallenstein or Jenifer Rene Pool, who are on the Democratic primary ballot.

Meanwhile, the Harris County Democratic Party also has dealt with its own balloting issues, including a dispute involving a criminal district judge’s eligibility that was settled by a judge last week.

The party also announced that a candidate for Precinct 2 constable had withdrawn from the Democratic primary, but would remain on the ballot. Any votes for him, a party spokeswoman said, would not count. A day later, the party said the candidate legally could not withdraw from the race.

Robert Downen covers general assignment and breaking news stories for the Houston Chronicle's metro desk. Prior to that, he worked as a business reporter in Albany, New York, and as the managing editor of a group of six newspapers in Illinois. He is a 2014 graduate of Eastern Illinois University.